#4) fit into a circular narrative like the game does

[pasta-pardner]

spotify | the tragedy of the gunslinger: chronicled through rock, alt country, and heavy metal.

[sparrowsabre7]

The Matrix Resurrections Review

The Matrix Resurrections is a film that could only have been made by Lana Wachowski. That's not to say that Warner Bros wouldn't have steamrollered ahead with A Matrix 4 without her, but it would not have been this film. This thoughtful meta narrative on nostalgia, remakes, and the hollywood industrial complex intertwined with a sci-fi romance.

The film begins with a trip down a version of memory lane. Largely recreating the opening of the first film. This is quickly revealed to be a slice of code from The Matrix, a videogame designed by Thomas Anderson. No, it's thankfully not an "it was all a dream" scenario, but a means of helping the re-matrified Neo cope with normal Matrix life. How and why the Matrix still exists is a question not answered until over an hour in, and even then not fully fleshed out. Nonetheless, the video game angle allows us to revisit a lot of moments from previous films, with archive often directly interspliced with the scenes. It also grants us a new Morpheus, a mantle Yahya Abdul-Mateen II fills well. He's more playful than Laurence Fishburne, buoyed with the joy of being Morpheus the character, fitting given his role is that of a program designed to act like Morpheus rather than a copy of the original. The true Morpheus' absence is sorely felt in some of the films more emotive moments, though given who he was and the events that occur between Matrices 3 and 4 his death would be the only logical conclusion. Equally solid as a stand in for the original is Jonathan Groff's Smith, a character who IS meant to be the same one as played by Hugo Weaving merely given a new face. Again, the nostalgic and emotional beats don't hit quite the same without Weaving purring out the lines about purpose and conflict, but it is a fitting rebrand within the universe of the film and the showdown between Neo and Smith still feels as visceral as ever which leads to my next point.

Early on there's a somewhat on the nose discussion about what the Matrix represents and I think this film reframes that question rather well. What's more impressive is that unlike other recent reboots it does so without erasing, contradicting or retconning anything that came before.

The original Matrix trilogy was perhaps best known for its action sequences, influencing the action genre and persisting to this very day. Since then we've had slew upon slew of Asian martial arts inspired epics, super powered punchups and the gravity and time bending shenanigans of Christopher Nolan. In short, we've had a lot of great action movies thanks to the Matrix. With this in mind it feels strange to say that the action in Resurrections is the worst aspect. Funnily enough, for all the movie talks about "bullet time" I'm not sure it even has more than a single instance of the effect. People who have seen the movie may argue this point but that's because *puts on pedantic nerd hat* few people understand that bullet time is not actually just slow motion. When the Wachowskis directed the first Matrix, bulllet time specifically referred a slow motion created with the camera in motion around the subject, usually circular, i.e. Trinity's kick at the start, Neo's bullet dodge, and the Neo/Smith shootout. It was achieved through hundreds of cameras going off in sequence to create an almost imperceptible stop motion sequence that got further massaged to look like moving image.

I don't mean the action is bad, it's well put together, looks cool and works within the narrative, but aside from the aforementioned Smith vs Neo fights, it's rather pedestrian. If you walk into this movie expecting an action film, you WILL be disappointed. However what remains is of far greater interest. The questions posed by the film's very existence: why this, why now, who are these people? These questions are, perhaps surprisingly, mostly answered, the crux of the story centering on the bond between Neo and Trinity being what gives The One, and by extension this new Matrix, their power. This actually builds on a concept laid down in the first film, Neo and Trinity's bond that somehow transcended reality into the Matrix, her words and love resurrecting him and her belief giving him power. This builds upon the foundations of the previous films' work and merely shifts the focus from action heavy to story heavy. I feel this reflects (or should reflect) the aging up of the viewership. I would hazard (based on no real research at all before anyone @ me) that most Matrix fans were fans from the time and thus the key demographic is now nearly 20 years older and likely their tastes and priorities in life have shifted. Where as a teenage boy I would have craved the Matrix 4 to be a bombastic action heavy flick to mindlessly consume, I am now much more in the mindset for a more cerebral thriller, one that puts its value in the power of human connection and belief.

Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne-Moss drive the film in this regard and both offer their best portrayals of Neo and Trinity out of all four films. Perhaps it's experience, perhaps it's how they've aged, but hey both bring something fresh whilst feeling familiar. Modern Keanu has a quiet fragility about him that serves the troubled Thomas Anderson well as he unravels his past, while Moss gets to explore who Trinity might have been before she was Trinity. The Trinity of the trilogy was fully formed and absolute in her resolve, this new version is more nuanced, uncertain, and emotive than the action girl of movies past.

The film ends in much the same way as the first, however this doesn't feel like a nostalgic retread or cynical notion onnthe cyclical nature of things, it feels more hopeful. While there is still an implied threat left, much like Neo's phone call at the end of the first film, moreso is the sense of optimism and hope: we WILL change things, it WILL be better and we're going to make it that way.

And in this time, that is an encouraging thought.

[fandomscombine]

No, Not Like This [Part 2]

George Weasley x Reader

BG: Rewatched the New Girl S2x15. You know the one with the ICONIC Nick and Jess 1st  Kiss? Now make it the reader and Geroge!

a/n: This second part follows more on their realization of what tf just happened. As did in S2x16. (so they don’t have scenes together, just their brains going into overdrive thinking they screwed up. don’t worry I’ll bring them back in pt3 hehe but first here’s some chaotic fun!)

This part’s voices of reason are.... Cho and Fred!

WC:1330

Read PART 1

>>>MASTERLIST<<<

>>JOIN MY WRITING CHALLENGE!<<

George made his way back up to his dorm in a surprising cool calm manner. It was not until late the next morning did what he did sunk in.

What George had thought was a very nice, vivid dream- one he wish he would have the courage to act upon in real life, had actually happened, he panicked.  ‘OH MY GOD! OH MY-YOU KISSED HER! YOU IDIOT!’

Fred, who had just arrived in their shared dorm, toast in hand, laughed at his very dishevelled twin queries. ‘Kissed who?’

‘Y/N. I kissed Y/N’

‘ohhh…’ George’s forwardness made Fred drop his toast. ‘FINALLY!’ He exclaimed, scooting George over.

‘wait What?’

Fred places his palms under his chin. ‘Now tell me how this all went down. Y/n made the first move, didn’t she? Please tell me she did or else I owe Ginny 5 galleons.’

~

While George had a rather peaceful slumber, you on the other hand, did not.

Twisting and turning, mind still stuck on the same sentence. Ranging between the perplexity of ‘George Weasley kissed me?’ to the absolute euphoria of ‘GEROGE WEASLEY KISSED ME!’ .

You touch you lips, gently as if by the feeling of his lips on yours would be washed away if not treated with care.

‘I meant something like that. I didn’t wanna kiss you because of a game. I want to kiss you because you mean something to me’

His parting words echoed in your head.

You Mean Something to Me.

That means he likes you too right? He has to… the boy literally said it…well in the bare minimum implied it. Who in their right mind would deliver a world-shattering kiss to someone they do not fancy?

Though there is one slight detail that could offset this whole theory……

He walked away.

The boy kissed, professed his feelings then exited.

And people say that women are enigmas.

You sighed, you definitely need a fresh pair of eyes here.

The alarm clock on your bedside table flashes 6:39am.

‘Great…’ You muttered, the stupid kiss has kept you awake, overthinking for almost 4 hours.

Rolling over, you layered on a hoodie to your pyjamas. ‘Well, she would just have to deal with me this early.’

You silently make your way out, trying your best to not wake any of your roommates.

In your desperation, the fact that the Ravenclaw’s common room location albeit not a secret, it had completely flown pass your head that they had no password but rather a riddle.

‘Please, can I get an easier riddle’ you pleased to the eagle knocker.

‘Which came first, the phoenix, or the flame?’

You huffed, ofcourse it won’t go easy on you.

‘How would I know?!’ you scowled. The door not granting you entrance just further adds to tour irritable state. How many more things had to be confusing? First George and now this!

‘I wasn’t there! You didn’t even give me a time frame, you stupid door! Ouch!’ Recoiling back in pain, you were sent aback whether be it from kicking the door or it getting back at you for mocking it, you weren’t sure.

‘Give me the full picture. Like is the Phoenix dying? Then the phonics came first than came the flame. If not then it would be vice versa, only a pile of ashes is seen from which a phoenix would be born… or reborn.’

Gosh, were you thankful that it’s too early in the morning for someone to see you rant to a door.

‘You know what? Whatever!’ You sighed in defeat; you would just have to hide from George during breakfast.

However, as you turn to leave, the most extraordinary thing happened.

‘OH My---’ You gawked at the now opened door. ‘It WORKED?!?’

‘It was a valid argument to the constrains presented.’ The eagle knocker remarked, ‘Now it you please, enter quickly, you are letting a cold draft in.’

‘Th-Thank you.’

You’ve been into the Ravenclaw Common Room before and the rows of floor to ceiling bookshelves never fail to intimidate you.

Your eyes land upon the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw and the surrounding intricate tapestries, the soft glow of the sunrise transforming the circular room into a gallery fit for a palace.

‘Y/n?’ A voice called from the dark staircase.

‘AHH!’ You placed a hand to your chest. ‘CHO! What the heck?!? Don’t scare me like that!’

‘What are you doing here? How did you get in?’

‘OH uh… I ranted.’ You told her honestly.

‘You ranted.’ She said in disbelief.

‘Yes. But more on that later, I have more pressing matters.’ You stated, shaking the poor girl. ‘I NEED ADVICE CHO. CODE RED.’

‘CLEARLY.’ Cho sassed, dragging along to the sofa but you stood your ground. ‘y/n?’ Her tone now softer upon seeing your distressed face.

‘George kissed me.’

‘Whaaaaaaaaa?!’

~

You are utterly grateful for Ravenclaws minding their own business, a handful of early risers had gone out for breakfast passing you by. Ravenclaws no doubt has multitude of questions on what a Gryffindor is doing in their common room but had decided to not go down that rabbit hole and are more intrigued in guessing what breakfast specials there’d this last meal before Christmas break.

Though the more straightforward answer could be seen on Cho’s face.

It is too early to be dealing with this, but a friend is a friend. Though that doesn’t mean it stops Cho from internally swearing that her eyes are going to be permanently crossed from keeping up with your pacing about.

‘George kissed me and I didn’t even kissed me back-’ Pacing left, you recounted the previous night. As if sensing Cho call your bullshit, you caved.  ‘okay fine! I kissed him back!’

Plopping face down onto the sofa, voice muffled by the pillow. ‘Is that what you want me to say?’ you demanded.

’I literally haven’t said a word for like over an hour’ uttered Cho matter of factly.

‘Sorry…’ You gaze up at her, pouting your lips as to make her forgive you faster before resuming to your grunts of ‘stupid George Weasley.’

Observing that your rant was over, Cho needed actual details in order to best help you. To help you out of this sticky situation or better yet some….realization, introspection…..That would be up to how honest you are with yourself. ’How was it though, was it…?’

You flop unto your back, mindless playing with your fingers as you recall, ‘It was like I was hit with a bunch of Cheering Charms.’

‘Really?’ Cocking her head, she continued.  ’George was that good? How did he do it then?’

‘He just,’ Okay how were you to describe that magical moment? Wracking your brain but no words could do it justice. ‘He just like, grabbed me.’

‘uh huh’

Cho was unconvinced, so you decided to act it out.

Still lying down, you reach to the ceiling, clenching into fists. ‘and he took me, I mean it was strength, confidence.’

’mm hmm’

You brought your arms close to you, letting your eyes shut as you did so. ‘It was firm, but tender.’

 ’oh damn.’ Cho gasped.

‘oh yeah’ You hate how hot your face has become in a matter of seconds. ‘I saw through space and time for a minute, but that’s not the point.’

‘oh man what are you gonna do?’ Prompted Cho. This was it, the homerun, she thought.

‘I don’t know.’ You truthfully say. There are so many uncertainties, you genuinely don’t know. Wrapping yourself into a ball, you slip of the seat.

Leaning forward, Cho does the last trick on her list. The question that has been implied but left officially unanswered. ‘I mean do you…like George?’

You fake vomit. Your automatic defence system taking over. ‘bah yuck George? Ahhhh’ You tried to play it cool, chuckling.  ‘Nooo!’

You’ve never told a soul! You and George are the best of friends-that’s the story.

Yet Cho’s unnerving brow challenges that narrative.

Halting, you swallowed.

‘Yes.’

~

Part 3, at the burrow will be coming up. So yeah.

It was supposed to be in this but I got carried away and got more inspiration from S2x16 where Nick and Jess had moments of albeit very panicked self-realization on the meaning of the kiss.

Taglist for this fic ‘No, Not like this’:

Thanks also for the support in part 1 and interest in reading more of the fic!🥰

@l0ttadreamz​ @vintagecherrypie106 @remmyswritings @jenniweaslee @iluvharrypotter172 @miaafrances @strawberriesonsummer @stressisakiller

Taglist [All/General]: @gruffle1​

[thenugking]

Grand Academy For Future Villains II: Attack of the Sequel, Chapter 11: Fall of Chapter Eleven. A commentary for Three.

General CW for the whole thing: parental abuse, internalised dehumanisation as a trauma response. Three’s not doing well.

Specific CW for this chapter: bad self care/mental breakdown

Game 1

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

Game 2

Chapter 0 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 10

Alternatively, read on Google Docs here

***

LOADING PANIC MODE…

DO YOU REALIZE THE AUDITORS HAVE THE POWER TO REMOVE THIS SCHOOL FROM ITS STANDING OUTSIDE OF REALITY?! WE'D NEVER SURVIVE! AAAAAAUGH!

Well. Yes. That’s the thing Three’s been trying desperately not to think about this whole year, the reason they need the Academy to keep it’s accreditation. The lessons are valuable, the buildings are incredible, but they could stand to lose all of that. They don’t know that they could stand to lose DarkBoard.

The day of the tenure evaluation, you're summoned during lunch hour to the School Head's office—the real one, not the decoy used for the house challenge. Select members of the senior faculty are seated around a semi-circular marble table, before which stand the three candidates for a permanent position with the Grand Academy for Future Villains: your mother, her hair gone entirely white but splendidly dressed in flame-colored robes, Professor Ulik, in a well-tailored business suit, and Professor Fen, looking like their usual self (selves?) in—or possibly consisting of—a tall heap of sodden mouldering fabric. In the shadows behind them stand Lord X and Ms. Goul, and you feel the dry tickle in your throat that means the Voice in the Void is present for the proceedings as well. 

"Don't think we've forgotten about you," you say to yourself, and cough as you realize it's the Voice in the Void speaking through you again. You close your hand on the envelope in your pocket, grateful that it doesn't seem to be able to read minds. What happened to Val? you wonder. But there's no sign on the impassive faces of the auditors.

With an electrical buzzing, the School Head appears over the semi-circular table. You can see each of the contending professors grow focused and alert as it begins to speak.

It gives a long speech in its usual vein about the importance of the Academy, and the importance of the faculty to the Academy, and the personal contributions of each of the candidates standing before it. 

"We have three exceptional candidates for a single permanent faculty position this year," intones the Head, "of which one will be selected and the other two discarded in disgrace like the vermin they are. Let us consider each of them in turn. Professor Maedryn is an Academy alumna from the Science Fiction house, a conqueror of multiple worlds in her own narrative, and the parent of a current student you all have reason to be familiar with—Three. She is the central intelligence that commands the maintenance staff, the Faculty Sponsor for Science Fiction, and the current acting head of the Evil Genius department. She is also historically a substantial contributor to the Academy's operating fund."

Your mother smiles, nodding slightly to the other faculty members.

"Professor Fen is a graduate student who has been working toward a doctorate in Cosmic Horror since before earthly measurements of time were conceived or devised. Fen has served as a lab assistant to previous Evil Genius faculty members, and…" The Head seems at a loss to say anything else definitive about Fen. "And would be very cheap to maintain. If Fen is not selected for a permanent faculty position, Fen may continue indefinitely as a lab assistant, or may crawl down into the dungeons for lurking purposes."

Fen wobbles.

"Finally, Professor Ulik has numerous high-profile evil architecture design-build projects under her belt. She is the Faculty Sponsor for Thriller and is the project manager for the current landscape redesign on the Academy quad. She participated in the internal disturbances last year, and has been demonstrating her complete contrition and re-education over the course of this year."

Ulik bows briefly from the waist.

"In consultation with the senior members of the Academy faculty, the members of the Board of Visitors and Overlords, and the composite intelligence of DarkBoard, we are now ready to announce our decision."

Three very much would like to think the auditors have forgotten them. Why haven’t the auditors forgotten them? All they’ve been doing is standing in the background while Ulik impresses the auditors, and giving a mediocre performance in the genre tournament. They don’t even have perfect grades any more! If there was a positive side to their grades slipping, it should be that Three is now completely unnoticeable. This has to be Val’s fault. Did Val tell the auditors they made Three the Academy’s fatal weakness? And why? Three doesn’t matter! Why does anyone imagine they matter at all?

Onto the tenure candidates. Three is glad that the Head does not seem to place much value on having Fen as a tenured professor, but also that they’ll be allowed to remain here even without tenure. They feel a lot of sympathy for Fen and would prefer that helping Ulik didn’t mean potentially hurting them. 

The competition really seems to be between Maedryn and Ulik though, and they both have more to lose if they fail. Three doesn’t want to imagine the consequences of Maedryn’s wrath if that happens--either for the Academy or for themself, personally. Ulik will lose at least her job, and quite likely her life, too. Three is relieved the Head makes no mention of dismemberment, though.They hope, desperately, that even if she doesn’t receive tenure, Ulik will have proven her loyalty enough to avoid that.

As for Ulik’s complete contrition and re-education… it’s not as though Three and Ulik talk about the rebel college, or anti-heroism, or the fact that Professor Mortwain’s still suspended in the courtyard, but they’re still not entirely sure Ulik is all that contrite or re-educated. What they are sure about is that Ulik is smart and practical, that people sometimes go along with all sorts of things they don’t agree with to protect themselves, and that a lot of villains are egotistical enough not to notice the difference between that and genuine agreement.

"Professor Ulik, congratulations."

The smile of pleasure that lights Professor Ulik's face makes you almost smile yourself to see it.

"And congratulations are also due to Three, Ulik's teaching assistant this year, whom we have with us today. Your master has ascended, young student, and you will ascend with her."

Three has learnt to be very good at keeping their face blank, but this is certainly a time they struggle with that. Smiling that Ulik received tenure while Maedryn is present is completely out of the question, but they are internally delighted. For a moment, at least, before remembering they will now have to deal with Maedryn’s reaction.

That's the kind of laugh that even other villains know to back away from. Ulik is already inching toward the shelter of the marble table. You can't see Fen at all.

"Tenure!" Your mother's laughter lasts a full minute and a half. She reaches up to her head, and without even wincing, rips out the shiny metal cortical amplifier that had been embedded in her skull. She tosses it into a corner. "Well that means I won't be needing that any more, will I."

From the halls outside you hear a strange sound. Thudding. Clattering. Your mother's newly mindless maintenance staff dropping their tools. But Professor Maedryn turns to you, green fire kindling in her eyes. "And…I think you've made it quite clear I won't be needing you."

She advances toward you, a wild and deadly rage written on her face. You recognize a villainous breakdown when you see it.

Three knows Maedryn better than maybe anyone, but they’ve never seen her like this before. She’s destroyed planets in fits of fury, but she’s always retained control over herself. Even with how concerned they were getting about her, even though they and Sona kept having to remind her to sleep and eat, it never really occurred to them that Maedryn was capable of just… breaking down. It terrifies them. Not just because they’re in genuine danger from her now, and for once she doesn’t have a use for them, but because their entire worldview is based around the single truth that Maedryn has complete control over them. And if Maedryn’s not in control, where does that leave Three?

I struggled with Three’s decision here. When Maedryn threatens you, you can call your teacher for help, and if you have over 60% on the tenure track (which Three does), they defend you. And die for you. It would be narratively fitting to have Three’s mentor die at the start of the final act. There’s some lovely symbolism to be found in Three’s mother figure defending them from their actual mother. But I’m still hoping we’ll have two more games/years of plot, and if that’s the case, I feel it might be better to kill Ulik (or at least tease killing her, I’m not sure how willing I am to actually go through with it) later down the line, when Three is closer to being a full-blown hero. I might go back and change this decision in future. It depends on what works best with what a third and fourth game give us. Or if I plan out an imaginary third and fourth game. Or if I plan out a longer, more final ending to the second one. 

In any case, Three just falls into begging and grovelling and reminding Maedryn how very useful they can be, sounding far more panicky than they would really like. They think it’s working. They don’t know for sure, since Professor Gk brings down the ceiling to contain Maedryn. Three… is not entirely sure where to go from here.

Ms. Goul and Lord X are sitting by themselves in the Faculty Lounge when you arrive. There's no one else in the room. Is this the interview that you were warned about? Where is Val?

"Three. Please sit down."

There's nowhere to sit; all the chairs were removed and the three auditors are occupying the only two spots on the sofa and a nebulous position in the school's collective subconscious. The auditors are taunting you. This can't be a good sign.

You remain standing. With an effort of will, you keep from touching the letter in your pocket.

"Before we take the results of our deliberations to the whole Academy," says Ms. Goul, pressing her fingertips together, "we thought you should witness the full power of the auditing committee of the Board of Visitors and Overlords."

So the final auditor has arrived! But where—

"Our fourth member." Lord X waves a hand at the bookshelf-covered wall. It begins to revolve, and through the door walks a familiar figure. 

At first you can hardly believe it.

Three absolutely does not remain standing. They were given an order, and are not going to disobey the most powerful people imaginable. My first thought was that they sit on the floor, but thinking about it further? They kneel. They want to show obedience and subservience, that they are not a threat and that they acknowledge the auditors as far greater than them. It’s also a versatile position from which they can easily spring up, or roll out of the way, if needed.

As for the fourth auditor… I mean, in-game, I get Val, but out of the two options, one of them just works much better.

Phil?!

"Three, you old sinner! They told you'd been messing about with the muckety-mucks and I didn't believe it!" Your old friend slaps you on the back, ruffles your hair, punches you in the arm hard enough to hurt. 

"Phil? But how—I thought you—"

"Expelled from the Academy with extreme prejudice? Oh to be sure, to be sure. But you know me." Phil flashes a winning smile, the smile that had seen him through three years of determined slacking at the Academy. "People like me, we only fall up."

You'd known Phil's family was powerful. But powerful enough to ensure Phil a spot on the Board of Visitors and Overlords?

"I'm more a visitor than an overlord," Phil admits, perching on the arm of the chair and putting an incongruous arm around Lord X. "Very junior member, of course, but they thought I might have some specific expertise in this matter. I told them I'd only taken the position because I'd been told there was no work whatever involved, so I'm very displeased about it all. But hey, I got to see you! And no hard feelings about the heartless betrayal. It was the easiest thing to do, in your position, and I don't blame you for it at all."

Three is surprised, and relieved, and delighted enough to see Phil that they don’t even tell him not to touch their hair. They aren’t sure whether they believe there are no hard feelings. With anyone else, they wouldn’t. With Phil, it could easily be true. Either way worries them.

Ms. Goul coughs and sets three massive binders on the coffee table.

"We've been conferring on the question of the continuing accreditation of the Grand Academy for Future Villains. We are currently divided. I say the state of the management and educational standards at the school does not merit our accreditation of the body. Lord X says it does. And the Voice in the Void says—"

Phil's mouth falls open and a blast of white noise pours out.

"Yes, thank you, Voice," continues Ms. Goul, "but this is hardly conducive to resolving our debate. It comes down to Phil. I know you'll want to make a careful review of the evidence that we've assembled over the course of year in order to determine whether the Board of Visitors and Overlords can extend recognition to—"

"No," Phil says.

Well. That wasn’t entirely unexpected. Nor can Three entirely blame him, after the events at the start of the year. Back then, seeing Phil flung out of the Academy had inspired Three to take initiative and put themself at risk to protect Ulik, whatever the danger. And now he’s back, and his decision could cost DarkBoard their life. And whatever the danger, Three will not let that happen.

#I hold the Academy's fatal weakness. I am the Academy's fatal weakness. I invite them to reconsider their decision.

[berserker-official]

Livestream 4/25

The reveal stream is here! A 3-hour stream with a bunch of new content coming out with the new season! Let’s dive in

The Hitokiri

The main reason to watch, really. The Hitokiri is the new hero coming out. To start off, we got to hear about the narrative design for the hero, Sakura and Yato.

The Hitokiri are former samurai executioners, The Manslayers With No Heart, that have lost faith in humanity and now roam the lands to execute criminals with no intention on stopping. Their massive axes, the masakari, spread fear wherever they may go.

Sakura, the female Hitokiri is a ghost. She travels from town to town dispatching criminals. Unlike normal Hitokiri, who slowly became psychologically and emotionally damaged from living as an executioner, This was Sakura’s calling. She is death, and death is her gift to the world. Eventually she arrives at her home town to execute a fisherman, but as she was about to behead the fisherman, she stops, and sees the head of an Orochi roll away. Sakura realizes that she killed her whole village, but she felt no remorse. Instead, she felt the power of the village’s spirits strengthening her, so she wears a belt of eerie masks, here she believes the souls of those she kills are stored to give her power. Eventually, she battled a master Kensei and loses, but instead of getting killed, Kensei recruited her, realizing her potential on the battlefield.

Yato, the male Hitokiri is part of a famous executioner clan. He used to believe he would do anything for his clan. He followed his duty without fail, and to others, his duty became art. His executions were so beautiful that people would travel near and far to watch him work. However, he had another job as a family assassin, who took out rival families to raise the fame of his own. One day, his father tasked him with killing the local Daimyo. The plan was flawless; the Daimyo would be in a specific place at a specific time, guards were paid off, this would be nothing more than a success. On the night of the planned execution, Yato brings his axe down on the sleeping Daimyo’s head, but there was no blood. The entire plan was a set-up by Yato’s father because even his family started to fear him. That was the moment Yato’s duty died. Without fear, he killed the Daimyo, the guards protecting him, his father, and every other Hitokiri in the village. With no remorse for his actions, he now follows his own code, and he stands with the Samurai to tear down any enemy in his way.

Character Design

As with all heroes, the design starts with the weapon. What kind of person could wield such a massive weapon? The overall design the team wanted to show off was a sense of fear when looking at these massive characters. Unlike the Shugoki, which is a very round character, the Hitokiri is meant to be broad but fit, being able to lift the axe and using it’s momentum to their advantage. They also wanted to have a more emotionless character, since being an executioner for a living is a very draining job. It looks like most of the costume design is cloth so colors can really shine. Players can also choose between masks and kabuki-style face paint. The ornaments are on the shoulder, similar to the Black Prior. This gives designers to make more unique helm designs, and the axes all have pretty unique designs as well, after taking some liberties designing the axe. (The Masakari is a single-headed axe originally, so the team added a second blade to make it look dangerous.)

Hitokiri Fight Demo

How does the Hitokiri play? The team says this hero is meant to be a very aggressive heavy. With the ability to activate an infinite heavy chain and super armor making it easy to trade blows and keep the pressure on, they focus heavily on pressure. The Hitokiri has a specific state called Mugen-Ryu, which grants special moves. My guess is the Mugen-Ryu is when the hero has super armor. This means you’ll want to come in with an attack that will get you into this state, apply pressure with heavies, and then either finish it with a kick, sweep or unblockable. You can also exit the state with a quick light that doesn’t stun you if blocked, returning you into neutral state. Like Shugoki, you can charge heavies to make them unblockable, but you can also feint out of them to keep enemies on their toes. While in the Mugen-Ryu state, Hitokiri has access to a kick attack. This kick can allow more combo opportunities or to open the enemies defenses. You can charge the kick as well, and if fully charged, the kick changes into a sweep. This sweep can also be feinted, giving players options, making things a guessing game. If you connect the kick, you get a free heavy, and if you connect the sweep you get a free light opener, allowing you back into a combo. The zone attack and the dodge forward heavy has a nice amount of forward movement to keep enemies close to you.

The feats all focus around executions. Hitokiri’s level 1 feat gives them super armor and a full shield, which means you won’t get interrupted by outside hits while executing. The level 2 feat marks an enemy. If the Hitokiri or any teammate executes the marked opponent, any teammate nearby will get a burst of health. Feat 3 gives the Hitokiri a defense buff that’s marked by the mask belt glowing. Feat 4 is a special attack that deals 200 damage to the locked enemy. If you connect this it’s essentially a one hit kill. (During the tournaments on this stream, the attacking team in a breach match uses this feat on the Lord, dealing a huge chunk of damage to win the match. It is possible to apply attack debuffs to the Hitokiri to lessen this damage, but generally try not to get hit by this.

Hitokiri Customization

What will we see as we level the Hitokiri up?

There are masks, face paints, and other hats that otherwise obscure the hero’s face. Body armor goes from just cloth to some leather armor. Each silhouette looks different from each other so you can mix and match to your liking.

Map Showcase: Canopy

A new Samurai map made for Tribute mode, this map takes place in the Samurai’s secret monastery in The Mire. To reach the Canopy, one must go through the forest of The Mire. It’s a large circular area with a temple in the middle.

Hero Improvements: Lawbringer and Raider

(this is all that is said during the stream, patch notes will have more info)

Lawbringer

Shove on Block has been removed, since it halts all offense, slowing down the game immensely.

New chains

Heavy, Heavy, Heavy

Heavy, Heavy Light

Light attacks are 500 across the board. Top light attacks for the first or second hit are 400. Side lights are not interrupted on block, so you can continue the combo to go to the unblockable, which is now all heavy finishers.

After a top heavy finisher, you can do a quick light to stun.

Dash impale attack and flip can now be interrupted by other players. This is similar to Shugoki’s Demon Hug.

Shove in a combo counts as part of a chain, so if you hit with an opener you can shove, then hit and hit with an unblockable, or you can dodge shove, hit, unblockable.

Make Way attack is now super armor and unblockable after a parry.

Shove has armor and 500 ms, gives confirmed light, and you can activate shove on hit, miss, or block. This gives LB more options to keep pressure without being forced to rely on blocking.

Damage numbers have been changed, most have gone up in numbers.

Raider

Similar to Lawbringer, Raider has some trouble initiating

New chains

L, L, H

L, H, H

H, L, L

All lights in the chain are 500 ms

Second heavy in chain gets armor, so now you can trade or feint

All heavies can be soft-feinted into Guardbreak.

Stun tap is 500 ms, and apparently it’s possible to change the timing of when the tap goes off, although it’s slight.

Zone will always be from the left, the other unblockable side attack will always be from the right.

Stampede Charge can now be interrupted, like Shugoki’s hug or Lawbringer’s impale (this is all relevant to group fights)

Damage numbers have been changed, most of them have gone up in numbers.

On all static guard heroes, stance change is now 100 ms.

Weapon Showcase

New weapons were revealed for the Hitokiri as well as the other heroes

Arcade Updates

This season, the team wanted to improve accessibility and address difficulty. How did they do this?

The recommended gear score for the weekly quest has been reduced to 108 (yellow-rarity gear) This also reduces overall difficulty, while rewarding you for playing with higher level gear.

With the addition of new objective quests, a quality of life update has been added to notify you what you’re doing before you start the chapter instead of guessing.

Rebalancing the impact of player’s gear score with respect to rarity levels when playing Arcade.

Under Recommended Gear Score = Penalties to damage dealt and received

On Par = No penalties

Above Recommended Gear Score = Bonuses to damage dealt and received

To compensate for this big of a change, bots will get a slight health and damage boost throughout arcade.

Decreased the success rate of Bot defensive moves (Block, Dodge, Parry and Deflect)

This season, there will be a selection of new quests every week, as well as previous ones, this gives the Arcade team some time to work on the mode, as well as gives players a chance to play any quests they might have missed, and this gives us a feedback loop. If players say something about a specific questline, the team can look at it and tweak it if need be.

Music Composition

To wrap things up, we got to hear from the game’s music composers and how they work on creating music for the factions and their crafting of Sakura’s theme.

[thomasroach]

A Plague Tale: Innocence Review – A Tail and a Half

The post A Plague Tale: Innocence Review – A Tail and a Half appeared first on Fextralife.

A Plague Tale Innocence combines a narrative driven story with puzzles, choices and a whole lot of rats…I’m not joking there are a ton of rats in this game. In this review I will look at how this title sets itself apart from your usual story driven titles with plenty of interesting rat mechanics, engaging plot as well as how it performs in terms of gameplay.

A Plague Tale: Innocence Review – A Tail and a Half

Genre: Action, adventure, puzzle, narrative-driven Published by: Focus Home Interactive Release date: May 14th Platforms: PC (review platform), PS4, Xbox One Price at time of review: $44.99 Website: http://bit.ly/2JGQ8K0

Story & Setting

A Plague Tale Innocence follows a woeful tale of a family who are ripped apart during an Inquisition. The main focus is 15 year old Amicia who must now look after her ailing brother Hugo, afflicted with a mysterious disease. In order to save her brother, their journey will take them through the plagued streets that have now devastated the Kingdom of France.

They must find a path through the numerous soldiers, enemies and the masses of rats. With only a trusty sling shot to protect her brother and her resourcefulness, Amicia will face a number of evils, but will also find a few friendly faces along the way. There is a sense of mystery in this story that starts right from the beginning. Why are people after Hugo? How can his sister save him from his illness? Why are there so many damn rats?

Expect a lot of violence in this one as Amicia will find herself against a number of foes, the imagery is quite realistic and gruesome in places. If that hasn’t put you off, then you’re in for a unique adventure.

Gameplay

Since A Plague Tale is primarily a story driven title, you will find most of the gameplay consists of exploring areas which will be met with playing out scenarios or cut scenes, the ability to gather materials, stealth, combat and puzzles to solve. While the puzzles aren’t your traditional read a text to discover a clue, or enter a combination of numbers to unlock doors, you will find in order to progress certain areas you will need to find ways to navigate through rats. The game cleverly uses lights to help steer rats away, meaning you will need to figure out the best way out of different situations.

Using a sling shot you will find there is auto-aim in this title, you simply need to point in the general direction of your target to lock on and then prime your shot for strength. There is an option to turn off assisted aim, but I didn’t feel is was necessary as targets are pre-determined and you don’t need to aim at specific body parts. No need to worry about the subtleties of projectile estimations, simply lock on, determine whether the target it close or at a distance, and away you go. There are definitely David and Goliath situations in the game, which makes you wonder whether its realistic, but that soon gets pushed out of your mind by the sheer awesomeness of delivering a final blow to the giant stacked soldier which is truly satisfying.

The game is told in chapters, meaning if you wish to go back to a previous chapter to pick up collectibles or simply replay a certain scene, you can do so. But be warned as any upgrades made during your playthrough from then on will be wiped clean. There are autosave points meaning you will need to wait until certain parts of the chapter or to progress to the next chapter in order to have your progress saved.

Mechanics

The strategy in this game concentrates on two main factors: stealth and puzzles. Letting you choose how you wish to distract the soldiers, either letting you hide while throwing a rock at a crate full of armor, or to choose a more invasive move of throwing Deverantis (a poisonous powder substance) at their helmets, causing them to remove them and then letting you swiftly hit them in the head using your sling shot. As you progress the game you will pick up new abilities that are chosen from a circular menu, most will require you to choose a target, and similar to the sling shot, prime your shot.

Stealth was a bit of hit or miss with me, at times it was well thought out and other points just seemed to be there for you to have something to do. Don’t expect Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or Sekiro stealth mechanics here, its a bit rough around the edges but it does its job and creates some sense of danger in-game. Each enemy has its own trigger meter, so you know if they have sensed your position. There is also the added factor of Amicia’s younger brother, who you can leave in certain situations to perform tasks, but leaving too much distance will cause him to panic. You will need to choose whether to distract guards by throwing a pot or going straight for a kill. With a number of enemies this can become be quite tricky to determine and can often have more than one way to be carried out.

Puzzles consist of using light to help navigate your way through the vermin infested lands. You will also run into 3 or even 4 person puzzles where you will need figure out who needs to assist in turning a lever at the right time or shift different blocks around. While not overly difficult, it does make you stop and think about your next move. If you fail at successfully coaxing the rats with a light source, this can result in the most devastating death, being eaten alive by these flesh hungry vermin. From time to time you may send Hugo to help with unlocking doors or reaching places that Amicia can’t fit, while pretty straight forward it provides a bit of variation.

As I was playing on PC, controls for the radial menu wasn’t always easy to navigate in certain areas of game, especially if you need to switch quickly between different abilities. Re-binding keys for shortcuts was needed in my opinion, as after doing this is felt much easier to tackle more intense gameplay.

Crafting

There is some degree of crafting in A Plague Tale, by gathering scraps of materials you will encounter crafting tables to help upgrade a few different aspects. You can increase the effectiveness of Amicia’s sling shot to lessen the time it takes to fire at an enemy. Other options include ways to help with stealth, abilities or to increase number of items carried. The crafting tables also acts as a save point, which is useful when you’re in between auto saves.

Audio & Visuals

At times that I can only describe as the ickiness of the game, really out does itself. Whether its the sound of rats scurrying in a huge mass, or just the visual itself, the developer does well to make you feel a little on edge especially when you’re trying to manoeuvre around a huge vermin pile. The story is in a medieval setting, full of stone castles, close knit towns and natural forest areas. Often these places are rather creepy looking due to the rat nests that have taken over the place, which is contrasted with some really idyllic areas.

Characters had voice actors that did well to bring life to the scenes as well as created some sort of connection, making you a little worried whether they’ll survive or not. The game is developed by a French studio, so you can also switch the audio to the original French soundtrack, there is also a German option. I tried to switch the language options mid-game but it seems you need to exit to the menu and begin at a check point to have this work. As far as I could tell from the brief experience of other language options, voice acting in other languages were well chosen.

The music swells at the right moments, with daunting cello sounds that can really put you on edge. There is also the sound of rats echoing throughout the game and sticks in your memory when you’ve even shut it off.

There were a few glitches here and there, some were visual where one characters head was placed at a rather awkward angle. The other caused a slight problem with solving one of the puzzles, resulting in restarting at a checkpoint to reset the puzzle. While neither of these glitches caused any major upset to gameplay, it just needed a couple of details ironed out to make the experience a little smoother.

Visually the characters are stunning, a lot of attention to detail to what they wear and the way they were designed. A slight drawback at times were the muted expressions in certain scenes. The more menacing characters really fitted their looks, and their armor was awesome.

Final Thoughts

Aboso Studio has done well to tell this particularly grim set story of a plague infested time. They truly got me to care about the characters as well as managed to throw in a few surprises along the way. A Plague Tale Innocence really manages to immerse you through the story telling, the beautiful and at times pretty disgusting surroundings. I don’t think I’ve played a game that has introduced this many rats, which definitely makes it feel quite unsettling.

The gameplay while not always as smooth as I would have liked, did a good job of creating urgency with oncoming soldiers and the piles of rats that are ready to devour anything that crosses their path. Using the sling shot was fun as it gave quite a few ways to play the game, choosing from the different abilities such as Deverantis or Luminosa (to light objects) made it feel very unique. I think if it was strictly just a straight forward sling shot option, it wouldn’t have been as enjoyable.

While you won’t be choosing the outcome of the story, how you play is where the options lie. You can go back and play out chapters differently, whether choosing a more stealthy approach or choosing to use different abilities. Unless you wish to playthrough in another language option or use different upgrade choices, replayability is a tad limited as there is only one ending.

If you’re looking to be whisked off into a grim yet intriguing title to play, introducing mystery, puzzles and something quite supernatural, then this is a title you should pick up.

A Plague Tale Innocence is available to play on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

If you enjoyed this review we recommend you read more our reviews in Days Gone Review: A Saphire In The Rough and Sekiro Review: Shinobis Die Many Times. If you want another narrative driven title, you should look into the lovecraftian investigative title Call Of Cthulhu Review. You can also check out what’s releasing this month in Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of June 2019 (Bloodstained, Warhammer And More!).

The post A Plague Tale: Innocence Review – A Tail and a Half appeared first on Fextralife.

A Plague Tale: Innocence Review – A Tail and a Half published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

[valereth2]

Halo 4 thoughts

I finished Halo 4, and I have never said this about any of the previous Halo games. This game is fucking awesome. Seriously, color me impressed. I had more fun with this one than any previous Halo game. Good work 343. You got me on board with a series that I always thought was decent but overrated. To start off, this is a gorgeous game. While Halo games have always been pretty from an artistic standpoint (a trait this game keeps up pretty damned well), they were, frequently, not the most technically impressive games on Microsofts systems. This is definitely one of the better looking games on the 360 on a technical level, as well. The facial animation is a big step up from previous games. The sound design in this game is so much fucking better than previous Halo games. The sound effects for the weapons, in particular, is a lot better than previous games. Weapons in prior Halo games always sounded kind of weak to me. It took me a long time to figure out exactly why the guns seemed to lack punch in previous games, making the gun mechanics and combat less than stellar in my eyes. It was the sound design. This fixes this. Every weapon sounds powerful as hell in this game, and I love that about it. Because the weapons all sound powerful, the guns feel more powerful when you fire them This results in guns that are much more satisfying to fire than previous games which makes the combat that much more fun. Good work here 343. You tweaked the gunplay and improved it in my opinion. This is the biggest reason I enjoyed this game a lot more than any previous Halo game. Having said that, the music is definitely inferior to the legendary soundtracks of the Bungie games. There are some good tracks here and there, but basically none of them stand out until the last level or two of this game. The music got a lot better on the space station and the didacts ship. There were moments before it where I flat out did not like some of the music in this game. It was this weird cacophony that seemed like it was trying to be ambient and just...failed miserably. One more thing that impressed me here was the story. The story with the didact is ok, but the narrative between Master Chief and Cortana was great. It tells a much more personal story than previous games. IT has an emotional ending that it more than earns and, for the first time in the series, Master Chief evolves as a character. Nice touch 343. I really liked it. There are some minor problems. The didact part of the story is less engaging that Chief and Cortana's arc. The Didact is not really that interesting of a villain. Some of the soundtrack really is not very good at all. Those flying shield fuckers with the circular wings can go straight to hell. I hated them, but for all it does wrong, it does a lot right. The new enemies (aside from the one I previously mentioned) are interesting and fun to fight. I like their art design. They fit well within the Halo universe. The combat is satisfying as hell, and the Cortana/Chief arc is great. I think this is my favorite Halo game, and I am being serious when I say that.

[smartwearabletk-blog]

5 signs that smartwatches are dead

It was only a couple of years ago that expectations for smartwatches were off the charts. All the signs pointed to an exciting new form factor for smart technology that would change the world once again. Two years later, that narrative is all but dead.

According to a report by IDC in October, smartwatches have experienced a 52 percent decline in 2016. Considering how young smartwatches are and how new products like the Apple Watch are, that is very bad news.

However, just because the market seems dead at this point, it doesn’t mean the next Apple or Samsung watch couldn’t revive it altogether. However, at this point, smartwatches are in serious trouble. Here are the 5 signs that make it clear:

1. The Apple Watch has failed to meet expectations.

Apple is an important player in the market—and its entry into a specific product category has always marked a certain amount of maturation and excitement around it. For years now, Apple has been dumping its resources and attention into the Apple Watch bucket. Known as the baby of CEO Tim Cook, sales expectations for the Apple Watch were astronomical. iPad sales were slowing dramatically, and the Apple Watch was going to be the next big thing to rally around for Apple.

Unfortunately, the Apple Watch failed to meet these high sales expectations for the product. It’s sold more than any other smartwatch, but by Apple standards, it hasn’t nearly made the impact that was hoped for. Although we did get a significant software update in watchOS 3, seeing Apple shift it’s focus back to the iPad and the MacBook Pro in 2016 felt like a clear sign that it needed to recalibrate.

2. Pebble is looking to sell.

 It looks like the company responsible for the original smartwatch will be acquired by fitness tracker kings Fitbit. Even though Pebble has completed a number of highly successful Kickstarter campaigns and launched a new lineup of watches this year, it’s currently being valued at a surprisingly low $40 million.

If the purchase by Fitbit goes through, there’s little hope that Pebble will survive in any real sense after the acquisition. Fitbit will no doubt take some of the technology and use it on its own smartwatches, but one of the biggest and most unique players in the smartwatch game look to be pretty much gone.

3. Google delayed Android Wear 2.0 to next year

 Even though Google announced the second version of its wearable operating system way back in May, it announced in September that it would be delayed to next year. Google says that the delay is just for fine-tuning the software, the decision does come across a little suspicious. The biggest change to Android Wear is that standalone apps for the watch that can be downloaded straight from the Google Play Store.

The decision to delay Android Wear 2.0 no doubts put its OEM partners in a weird position, which might explain some of the reasons why companies like Huawei, Samsung, and Sony have held off on new versions of its smartwatches. We’ll have to wait and see if Android Wear 2.0 is interesting enough to bring OEM partners back, but some companies have already preemptively called it quits altogether.

4. Lenovo Moto is exiting the game.

 One of the biggest proponents of Android Wear is exiting the game without any clear plans of returning. The Verge has confirmed that Lenovo Moto doesn’t see another iteration of the Moto 360 in its future.

Speaking to the head of global product development, Shakil Barkat, The Verge reports that the company doesn’t “see enough pull in the market to put [a new smartwatch] out at this time. Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year.”

The Moto 360 first launched in 2014 as the first circular smartwatch and the first Android Wear watch to really catch our attention. It was classy, customizable, and held a lot of promise for the future of smartwatches. The update came in 2015, bringing better battery life, a thinner shell, and a smaller size option. The 2nd generation even won the award as our favorite smartwatch of the year, beating out stiff competition from the likes of Apple, Pebble, and Samsung.

5. Smartwatches don’t have broad appeal yet.

 “It has also become evident that at present smartwatches are not for everyone,” said Jitesh Ubrani, a senior research analyst from the IDC report mentioned earlier. “Having a clear purpose and use case is paramount, hence many vendors are focusing on fitness due to its simplicity.”

The smartwatch is still quite young. The ideas about what a computer on your wrist can do have been numerous and varied, but none have really stuck. Aside from those that focus on health, smartwatches and wearables in general have failed to capture the attention of the masses. It’s completely possible that next year we will get the product that changes that, but as of now, it’s simply a product that is for tech nerds only.

[onmysmartwatchtk-blog]

5 signs that smartwatches are dead

It was only a couple of years ago that expectations for smartwatches were off the charts. All the signs pointed to an exciting new form factor for smart technology that would change the world once again. Two years later, that narrative is all but dead.

According to a report by IDC in October, smartwatches have experienced a 52 percent decline in 2016. Considering how young smartwatches are and how new products like the Apple Watch are, that is very bad news.

However, just because the market seems dead at this point, it doesn’t mean the next Apple or Samsung watch couldn’t revive it altogether. However, at this point, smartwatches are in serious trouble. Here are the 5 signs that make it clear:

1. The Apple Watch has failed to meet expectations.

 Apple is an important player in the market—and its entry into a specific product category has always marked a certain amount of maturation and excitement around it. For years now, Apple has been dumping its resources and attention into the Apple Watch bucket. Known as the baby of CEO Tim Cook, sales expectations for the Apple Watch were astronomical. iPad sales were slowing dramatically, and the Apple Watch was going to be the next big thing to rally around for Apple.

Unfortunately, the Apple Watch failed to meet these high sales expectations for the product. It’s sold more than any other smartwatch, but by Apple standards, it hasn’t nearly made the impact that was hoped for. Although we did get a significant software update in watchOS 3, seeing Apple shift it’s focus back to the iPad and the MacBook Pro in 2016 felt like a clear sign that it needed to recalibrate.

2. Pebble is looking to sell.

 It looks like the company responsible for the original smartwatch will be acquired by fitness tracker kings Fitbit. Even though Pebble has completed a number of highly successful Kickstarter campaigns and launched a new lineup of watches this year, it’s currently being valued at a surprisingly low $40 million.

If the purchase by Fitbit goes through, there’s little hope that Pebble will survive in any real sense after the acquisition. Fitbit will no doubt take some of the technology and use it on its own smartwatches, but one of the biggest and most unique players in the smartwatch game look to be pretty much gone.

3. Google delayed Android Wear 2.0 to next year

 Even though Google announced the second version of its wearable operating system way back in May, it announced in September that it would be delayed to next year. Google says that the delay is just for fine-tuning the software, the decision does come across a little suspicious. The biggest change to Android Wear is that standalone apps for the watch that can be downloaded straight from the Google Play Store.

The decision to delay Android Wear 2.0 no doubts put its OEM partners in a weird position, which might explain some of the reasons why companies like Huawei, Samsung, and Sony have held off on new versions of its smartwatches. We’ll have to wait and see if Android Wear 2.0 is interesting enough to bring OEM partners back, but some companies have already preemptively called it quits altogether.

4. Lenovo Moto is exiting the game.

 One of the biggest proponents of Android Wear is exiting the game without any clear plans of returning. The Verge has confirmed that Lenovo Moto doesn’t see another iteration of the Moto 360 in its future.

Speaking to the head of global product development, Shakil Barkat, The Verge reports that the company doesn’t “see enough pull in the market to put [a new smartwatch] out at this time. Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year.”

The Moto 360 first launched in 2014 as the first circular smartwatch and the first Android Wear watch to really catch our attention. It was classy, customizable, and held a lot of promise for the future of smartwatches. The update came in 2015, bringing better battery life, a thinner shell, and a smaller size option. The 2nd generation even won the award as our favorite smartwatch of the year, beating out stiff competition from the likes of Apple, Pebble, and Samsung.

5. Smartwatches don’t have broad appeal yet.

 “It has also become evident that at present smartwatches are not for everyone,” said Jitesh Ubrani, a senior research analyst from the IDC report mentioned earlier. “Having a clear purpose and use case is paramount, hence many vendors are focusing on fitness due to its simplicity.”

The smartwatch is still quite young. The ideas about what a computer on your wrist can do have been numerous and varied, but none have really stuck. Aside from those that focus on health, smartwatches and wearables in general have failed to capture the attention of the masses. It’s completely possible that next year we will get the product that changes that, but as of now, it’s simply a product that is for tech nerds only.